F I L E D
United States Court of Appeals
Tenth Circuit
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
July 22, 2005
TENTH CIRCUIT
PATRICK FISHER
Clerk
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
No. 04-5178
v. (Northern District of Oklahoma)
(D.C. No. 98-CR-55-C)
GRACIE LEA ALFORD,
Defendant-Appellant.
ORDER AND JUDGMENT *
Before BRISCOE, LUCERO, and MURPHY, Circuit Judges.
After examining the briefs and the appellate record, this panel has
determined unanimously to grant the parties’ request for a decision on the briefs
without oral argument. Fed. R. App. P. 34(f); 10th Cir. R. 34.1(G). This case is,
therefore, ordered submitted without oral argument.
*
This order and judgment is not binding precedent, except under the
doctrines of law of the case, res judicata and collateral estoppel. The court
generally disfavors the citation of orders and judgments; nevertheless, an order
and judgment may be cited under the terms and conditions of 10th Cir. R. 36.3.
On August 13, 1998, defendant-appellant Gracie Lea Alford pleaded guilty
to one count of misapplication of bank funds by a bank employee, in violation of
18 U.S.C. § 656. The district court sentenced Alford to six months’ imprisonment
followed by five years’ supervised release and ordered Alford to pay restitution in
the amount of $19,587. After serving her prison sentence, Alford was placed on
supervised release on August 6, 1999. 1
On February 5, 2004, the United States Probation Office (“USPO”) filed a
petition to revoke Alford’s supervised release, alleging that Alford had violated
the conditions of her release by fraudulently opening a Discover credit card
account in the name of her sister-in-law, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1029(a)(5).
Subsequently, on August 17, 2004, the USPO filed an amended petition which
reiterated the prior allegation, adding that it constituted fraudulent use of a social
security account number, in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 408(a)(7)(B). The amended
petition also alleged that Alford used her sister-in-law’s identity to fraudulently
open a wireless telephone account, in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 408(a)(7)(B), a
Capitol One Visa credit card account, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1014, and a
1
Under the conditions of her supervised release that are relevant to this
appeal, Alford was not permitted to commit another federal, state, or local crime,
and was required to (1) submit a truthful and complete written report to her
probation officer within the first five days of each month, (2) notify her probation
officer within seventy-two hours of being arrested, and (3) maintain a single
checking account, disclosing all other bank accounts to her probation officer.
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Capitol One K-Mart MasterCard, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1014 and 42 U.S.C.
§ 408(a)(7)(B). The petition further charged that Alford was arrested by the
police in South Carolina on July 15, 2004, due to four outstanding warrants for
fraudulent checks, and failed to notify her probation officer within seventy-two
hours or report the arrest on her monthly report to the probation office. In
addition, the amended petition alleged that Alford failed to disclose to the
probation office the existence of an active checking account, in violation of 18
U.S.C. § 1001, and in contravention of the conditions of her release requiring
truthful reports to the probation officer and disclosure of all additional bank
accounts.
Appearing before the district court on August 18, 2004, Alford admitted to
the violations related to the fraudulent credit cards and cell phone accounts. At
sentencing, on October 12, 2004, the district court concluded Alford committed a
Grade A violation and, when combined with her criminal history category III
status, the recommended sentencing range under the Guidelines was eighteen to
twenty-four months. The district court sentenced Alford to eighteen months’
imprisonment to be followed by a term of forty-two months’ supervised release.
Alford now appeals, arguing that the prison sentence imposed by the district court
was not reasoned or reasonable because the district court did not state a rationale
for the sentence imposed and the initial revocation petition was based on
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violations that had occurred over two years prior to the filing of the initial
petition. Exercising jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291, this court affirms
the sentence.
“[W]e will not reverse a revocation sentence imposed by the district court if
it can be determined from the record to have been reasoned and reasonable.”
United States v. Contreras-Martinez, 409 F.3d 1236, 1240-41 (10th Cir. 2005)
(quotation and alteration omitted). 2 At sentencing, the district court stated that it
considered the Chapter 7 policy statements and viewed them as advisory. The
court then articulated its reasons for selecting the low end of the range, telling
Alford that the sentence was appropriate “[b]ecause of your recent activities and
[that] I hope your life can be turned around and has been turned around.” The
court further stated that this sentence “adequately addresses the seriousness of the
violations [and] the defendant’s repeated fraudulent conduct[].” The statements
of the district court indicate that it adequately explained its reasoning and
considered the relevant factors of 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) in sentencing Alford. See
18 U.S.C. § 3583(e) (listing factors to consider in revocation cases); see also
United States v. Kelley, 359 F.3d 1302, 1305 (10th Cir. 2004). Moreover, there is
2
This standard of review was not altered by the Supreme Court’s decision in
United States v. Booker, 125 S. Ct. 738 (2005). United States v. Contreras-
Martinez, 409 F.3d 1236, 1241 n.2 (10th Cir. 2005)
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nothing in the record to suggest that the eighteen-month sentence imposed is not
reasonable. Accordingly, Alford’s sentence is AFFIRMED.
ENTERED FOR THE COURT
Michael R. Murphy
Circuit Judge
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